, 1887-12-09
BEARS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
rent. rr sport for Hunter, in the -orth-
80 Eicr of Innntlns.

] ems 80 sport for Huntcr' in the E.oFta-
c"I TER Of Counties.
.'T,rr Gling away OF the tinLcr."
saw ~. - rrvsnt and experienced vts,s-
Dar. 81 m1n VIII, has surveyed uIrl
IN q II rcuas"lrauia's nor; hrTn tier
0f ii r.rt for many wears. ..hs, natur-
al '.- = followed by the appearance of
ya,i .scrra Of various kinds Of berry
bu.ir huckl"!s'rry, bear berry. and
ot!u" the fruit Of which fnrnis the
~rlyuti.' provra,lcr If bears, AMI o. which
Ilcy t'i"i,'. as o nothing else. Aud, while
giving way 10 these prolific and tooth
some near pastures, the clearing away of
the trees docs not disturb the character
of The Gctrc aY'ampa. in the confines of
which the animals lind safe places for
brln4iu+ forth AMI rearing their young;
II the rocky hedges. with their avine
and Cavcrls, still remain as OF Old, and
there the hears find winter lairs as secure
ant comfortable a. they were when the
forests grew above them. Bears have
solitud,- and iuIpcncirnblc places. but
they don't require that such spots shall
be provided by forest depths. Swumps
and rocks are all they ask, if the coutigu-
ous country only provides them with
such s]u.tcnancc as they like. OF course,
if cultivated farms take the place of tie
woD,,,. the bear has TO go, but it will lie
many aud many n year before the noun
tain regions of northern PENNSYLVANIA
will have such IA face put upon them.
There are az many bears in the northern
tier of Pennsylvania counties az there
We're fifty wears - and fifty years from
nov their descendants will be waxing fat
4U, Tho ltt.EI.l,arFf,.5 gg,,,H pal- corn
and occasional sheep and pigs just as
salIcily and just AS numerous
IL 4 man is hunting bears for profit it
is better 10 trap than 20 hunt them, but
the sportsman who seeks bear for pleas
urc and cNcitement-and there is usually
plenty of the latter in running down
hnliu- follow the trail with gun and dog.
a bear hunters outfit is simple. He
wants especially n good dog. If the
hunter is an expert he will carry a rifle,
but a double barrcled shotgun that will
carry a good charge of buckshot to kill
at thirty yards is the best for the average
Sportsman. Heavy boots, thick trousers,
a light hunting AK i'll a belt, a pistol and
n long bladed knife for emergencies are
sensible things to accompany the hunter,
if they are not absolutely essential.
Dogs are the natural enemies of bears.
\ dogs yclp is the signal to the bear for
II fight. Few experienced dogs are fool
ish enough to go beyond the opening Of q
cave to which n bear has been scented
and to pitch into a bear that has turned
for fight. A full grown bear, with his
dander up, a ward off half a dozen
dogs if he can prevent al attack in the
rear. A fair blow from n bears paw
will place any dog in a condition that
will rob the subsequent proceedings of all
interest to him. At sight of n man,
though, a ear will make every effort to
get away. As a rule, bruin will never
fight q man until forced to, but when he
does engage in such n battle it will be
wal to the death with him. A she bear
with cubs, when closely followed, will
keep her cubs ahead of her, and bring up
the rear to protect them. If she is pushed
closely she will try to brighten off her
pursuers by making a great show of
fight. She will growl, show her great
teeth, tear the bark from trees and scat
ter it about with much fuss and noise.
and will make herself us fierce as possible
in many ways. If the enemy persists in
his pursuit, and she cannot elude him
and get her cubs out of his way, she will
turn and fight rs long as she
has a drop Of blood to shed in
defense of her young. The cubs,
meanwhile, will huddle together a
short distance away, and whine and cry
piteousig as they await the gage of bat
tie. In chasing a bear experienced dogs
greatly aid the hunter. Without a good
dog the trail may be followed from sun
rise until sunset without the hunter once
getting a sight of his coveted game. The
dog harnesses the bear, bringing it to a
standstill and keeping it there by skillful
manuvering until the hunter comes up.
The sportsman who is anxious to be
put 10 his mettle while bear hunting has
only TO let bruin get scent of him at the
start. Then the bear will take n course
to follow which will require nerve, wind
and n tough skin. When the snow is
deep Il bear chase is slow and tedious.
With a light fall of snow and n fresh track,
however, there is no sport so exciting,
and even an amateur hunter will find
himself travelling miles on "A good stiff
trot, so wrapped up will he be in the
chase. 1t is no difficult matter to kill a
bear if the dogs understand their bust
ness after bruin is brought to bay, for he
will give all his attention to the dogs that
are yclping around him, while the hunter
stands of and peppers him full of lead.
But there are times when a bear will
brace himself for a fight from the word
go, and then if the hunter doesn't kill
at the first fire he will be apt to have
about as lively II time on his hands as he
could well dream of. No story of a bear
fight that was ever told can be much
ahead of the actual incidents that go with
a fight, if it is a good one. A bear chase
is often a long and tiresome piece of work,
for when the game finds that he is
scented he will pick out the most tangled
and impossible place he can reach. He
will frequently lead his pursuer twenty
miles over mountains and through val
legs, where the brush and briers are
harassing and the swamps almost mac
cessible to man, while he will shuttle
along with his clumsy gait as rapidly and
easily rs if on the best of roads.-Cor.
New York Sun.